Literature The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
WORD BOOSTER
6 These are paragraphs from the start of a novel called The London Eye Mystery. Read them and put them in the correct order. 1 2 3 4 a We waited for the next capsule and the next and the one after that. He still didn’t appear. Somewhere, somehow, during the thirty minutes of riding the Eye, in his sealed capsule, he had vanished off the face of the earth. This is the story of how I discovered how he had disappeared …
c Kat and I tracked Salim’s capsule as it made its orbit. When it reached its highest point, we both said ‘NOW!’ at the same time and Kat laughed and I joined in. That’s how we knew we’d both been tracking the right one. We saw the people bunch up as the capsule came back down, facing north-east towards the automatic camera for the souvenir photograph. They were just dark bits of jackets, legs, dresses and sleeves.
b We took Salim to the Eye because he’d never been up before. A stranger came up to us in the queue, offering us a free ticket. We took it and gave it to Salim. We shouldn’t have done this, but we did. He went up on his own at 11.32, 24 May, and was due to come down at 12.02 the same day. He turned to wave at Kat and me as he boarded, but you couldn’t see his face, just his shadow. They sealed him in with twenty other people he didn’t know.
d Then the capsule landed. The doors opened and the passengers came out in twos and threes. They walked off in different directions. Their faces were smiling. Their paths probably never crossed again. But Salim wasn’t among them.
7 Are the sentences true (T) or false (F)? 1 Salim bought a ticket to the London Eye. T/F 2 The writer saw Salim clearly when he went into the capsule. T/F 3 Salim went into the capsule with another friend. T/F 4 Kat and the writer laughed because they had said the same word at the same time. T/F 5 Nobody found out where Salim had gone. T/F
8 What about you? 1 Would you like to read the rest of the story? Why/Why not? 2 What do you think happened to Salim? I’d like to read the rest of the story because I want to know how Salim disappeared. Me too. I love mystery stories.
INSIDE INFORMATION ● ● ●
Thi bbookk was written This itt iin 2007 and has won several awards. The narrator of the story is an autistic child. The book is for children but, as one reviewer said, it’s perfect for readers from 8 to 88.
Unit 3
141 4
Audioscript and Key Man: .. And another thing you HAVE to do when you go to London is to go on the London Eye. It’s now the number one paying tourist attraction in, not just London, but the whole of Great Britain. More than 30 MILLION people have visited it already, 30 MILLION! That’s approximately 3.5 million people who go on it each year. Woman: And it’s also the number one filming location in London. The London Eye appears in LOTS of films, including one of the Harry Potter films and the Fantastic Four. Man: That’s right. Isn’t it incredible to think that it only opened for the first time in the year 2000, to celebrate the new millennium? It took seven years and hundreds of people from five countries to create the London Eye. Woman: But now it’s very difficult to imagine London without seeing the London Eye there. Man: And it IS very easy to see. Did you know that it’s 135 metres high? There are only three buildings that are higher than that in the whole of London at the moment. Woman: Yes, so it’s not surprising that you can see around 40 kilometres from the top. Of course, that’s 40 kilometres when the weather’s good and the sky is clear. Man: 800 people can travel on the London Eye at the same time. And each trip takes about half an hour. During the thirty minute trip you travel just 26 centimetres a second. Woman: That’s right, so you can get on and off without the wheel stopping. Man: AND finally, did you know that you can celebrate your birthday or Saint Valentine’s Day on the London Eye? You can even get married there. Woman: Yes, that’s right, you can actually get married on the London Eye. But you can’t celebrate there on Christmas Day, because the only days that you CAN’T travel on the London Eye are Christmas Day and six or seven days in January. That’s when engineers check the wheel and make any necessary repairs. Man: So remember, for London, our top tip for tourists is most definitely the London Eye!
Literature: The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd 6 Students read the paragraphs and put them in the correct order. Set a time limit of two minutes to encourage students to skim read the text for the information they need. Key 1 b
2 c
3 d
4 a
Students match the words with the definitions. In a less confident class, you could also elicit the meanings of these words from the text. Alternatively, write the words on the board and read out the definitions for students to match to the correct word: vanish – to disappear in a sudden or mysterious way; stranger – someone you do not know; shadow – an area of darkness that is created when something blocks the light; land – come down to the ground. 2 a
3 d
4 f
Students read the information about The London Eye Mystery. 7 Students decide if the sentences are true or false. Check their answers and ask students to read out the information in the text that helped them to decide on their answer. Ask students to correct the false sentences. Key 1 F (A stranger offered a free ticket.) 2 T 3 F (Salim went up on his own.) 4 T 5 T 8 What about you? Students discuss the questions. Draw students’ attention to the example sentences.
Extra activity Students plan a three-day visit to London. Ask them to plan how they will go to London, what they will do there, what photos they will take, how much the holiday will cost. Students could present their trips in class.
DVD (optional) Thunderbirds (director: J Frakes; 2004) Based on the cult ‘60s British television series of the same name, the film follows the adventures of the Tracy family and their astounding fleet of International Rescue vehicles. The amazing final scenes of the film were shot in and around the centre of London, showing some of the city’s most fantastic sites such as Tower Bridge and the BA London Eye. As Thunderbird 2 soars over the Thames, its spectacular flight shows off London as you have never seen it before. Locations used in Thunderbirds include Canary Wharf, Tower Bridge, City Hall, BA London Eye and Jubilee Gardens, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Bridge, Hungerford and Waterloo Bridges and Nelson’s Column. Resource materials: See Unit 3 CLIL worksheet on page 186.
Homework
Refer students to the Workbook, page 24.
Listening p38 Warmer
Word booster
Key 1 b
Inside information
5 c
6 e
Students race to name all the member states of the European Union. The team with the most correct member states wins! Key There are currently 27 member states of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. 1a
Speaking In pairs, students take it in turns to describe the photos. Ask them to say if they think the people are having a good time and explain why.
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